Delta boosts flights to Austin in battle for fast-growing airport

Flight additions include Midland-Odessa and McAllen in Texas, as well as Raleigh-Durham in North Carolina, Nashville and Cincinnati.

Connecting passengers will also be routed through the hub, a shift for the Atlanta-based carrier.

“This is the first time we will use Austin as a connection point to access our network with the addition of McAllen and Midland,” Eric Beck, managing director of network planning, said in an interview. “For us here at Delta, Texas has historically been a white space for opportunities on our network.”

Austin population Emerging Rapidly in recent years the city has attracted investments from major companies such as Apple, Tesla and IBM.

Beck said there was no single company that made the decision to expand into Austin. But “over time, when we talk to our corporate accounts and look at where they’re traveling, we don’t have service,” and McAllen and Midland, a base for the oil-rich Permian Basin, topped the list. he added.

Both cities have strong business communities and tourist attractions, Beck said.

Austin Airport served more than 7.1 million passengers last year, up 11% from 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Passenger numbers fell by 5% in the United States overall during that period.

Delta had a market share Nearly 14% in Austin as of September, behind Southwest Airlines’ 40% share and American Airlines’ 22%, according to airport data.